Conventionally in the production of a semiconductor device, fine processing by the lithography using a photoresist has been performed. The fine processing is a processing method for forming fine convexoconcave corresponding to the following pattern on the surface of a substrate by forming a thin film of a photoresist on a semiconductor substrate, such as silicon wafer; irradiating an activating light ray, such as an ultra violet ray onto the resultant thin film through a mask pattern in which a pattern of a semiconductor device is depicted for development; and subjecting the substrate to etching processing using the resultant photoresist pattern as a protecting film. Recently, however, the high integration of semiconductor devices is progressed and the adopted activating light ray tends to have a shorter wavelength, such as from a KrF excimer laser (248 nm) to an ArF excimer laser (193 nm). Following such a tendency, the influence of diffuse reflection of an activating light ray on the substrate or of a standing wave has become a large problem. Thus, in order to solve this problem, widely studied is a method of providing a reflection preventing film (bottom anti-reflective coating, BARC) between the photoresist and the substrate. For such a reflection preventing film, many investigations on an organic reflection preventing film composed of absorptive substances, polymer compounds, and the like are performed in terms of easiness of its use, and examples thereof include: both an acrylic resin-based reflection preventing film having a hydroxyl group which is a crosslinkable group and a light absorbing group within one molecule thereof; and a novolac resin-based reflection preventing film having both a hydroxyl group which is a crosslinkable group and a light absorbing group within one molecule thereof (for example, see Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).
As a characteristic required for the organic reflection preventing film, there can be mentioned having a large absorbance to light or radiation, no-intermixing with a photoresist layer (being insoluble in a photoresist solvent), no-occurring the diffusion of low molecule substances from the reflection preventing film to the photoresist of an upper layer during heating and calcining, having a larger dry etching rate than that of the photoresist, and the like (for example, see Non-patent Document 1, Non-patent Document 2 and Non-patent Document 3).
Further, recently, for solving a problem of the wiring delay which has become apparent as the miniaturization of a pattern rule of the semiconductor device has progressed, it is studied to use copper as a wiring material. Then, together with it, a dual damascene process is studied as a wiring forming method for the semiconductor substrate. Then, in the dual damascene process, a via hole is formed and a reflection preventing film is formed to a substrate having a large aspect ratio. Therefore, for the reflection preventing film used in this process, filling characteristics capable of filling holes without voids, planarization characteristics capable of forming a planar film on the substrate surface, and the like are required.
However, it is difficult to apply an organic material for a reflection preventing film to a substrate having a large aspect ratio and recently, materials focusing on the filling characteristics and the planarization characteristics have been developed (for example, see Patent Document 3, Patent Document 4, Patent Document 5 and Patent Document 6).
In addition, in the production of devices such as semiconductor, for reducing the poisoning effect of a photoresist layer by a dielectric layer, there is disclosed a method for providing a barrier layer formed from a composition containing crosslinkable polymers or the like between the dielectric layer and the photoresist layer (for example, Patent Document 7).
Disclosed is a resist underlayer film forming composition containing a plasticizer such as dibasic ester used in the production of semiconductor devices (for example, see Patent Document 8).
Thus, in the production of semiconductor devices in recent years, for achieving various effects besides the reflection preventing effect, as a layer between the semiconductor substrate and the photoresist layer, that is, as an underlayer of the photoresist layer, an organic underlayer film formed from a composition containing organic compounds has become disposed.
Since it is required for the underlayer film not to intermixing, a crosslinking reaction is frequently utilized for forming the underlayer film. Then, as a composition for forming such a crosslinkable underlayer film, a composition containing polymers, c a cross linker and a sulfonic acid compound as a crosslinking catalyst is used (for example, see Patent Document 1, Patent Document 3, Patent Document 4 and Patent Document 6). However, since the composition contains such a strong acid as a sulfonic acid compound, it is considered that the composition has a problem in the storage stability.
Therefore, an underlayer film formed by utilizing a crosslinking reaction requiring no strong acid catalyst and a composition therefor have been desired.
[Patent Document 1]
    U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,599 Specification[Patent Document 2]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,693,691 Specification[Patent Document 3]    Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2000-294504[Patent Document 4]    Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2002-47430[Patent Document 5]    Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2002-190519[Patent Document 6]    International Publication No. WO 02/05035 pamphlet[Patent Document 7]    Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2002-128847[Patent Document 8]    Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2002-47430[Non-patent Document 1]    Tom Lynch et al (3 persons) “Properties and Performance of Near UV Reflectivity Control layers” U.S.A., in Advances in Resist Technology and Processing XI, edited by Omkaram Nalamasu, Proceedings of SPIE, 1994, Vol. 2195, p. 225-229[Non-patent Document 2]    G. Taylor et al (13 persons) “Methacrylate Resist and Antireflective Coatings for 193 nm Lithography” U.S.A., in Microlithography 1999: Advances in Resist Technology and Processing XVI, edited by Will Conley, Proceedings of SPIE, 1999, Vol. 3678, p. 174-185[Non-patent Document 3]    Jim D. Meador et al (6 persons) “Recent Progress in 193 nm Antireflective Coatings” U.S.A., in Microlithography 1999: Advances in Resist Technology and Processing XVI, edited by Will Conley, Proceedings of SPIE, 1999, Vol. 3678, p. 800-809